The 2008 NCAA Division II football season, part of

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

in the United States organized by the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

at the Division II level, began on August 29, 2009, and concluded with the

NCAA Division II Football Championship The NCAA Division II Football Championship is an American college football tournament played annually to determine a champion at the NCAA Division II level. It was first held in 1973, as a single-elimination tournament with eight teams. The tourna ...

on December 12, 2009 at Braly Municipal Stadium in

Florence, Alabama Florence is a city in, and the county seat of, Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the state's northwestern corner. It is situated along the Tennessee River and is home to the University of North Alabama, the oldest college in the st ...

, hosted by the

University of North Alabama The University of North Alabama (UNA) is a public university in Florence, Alabama. It is the state's oldest public university. Occupying a campus in a residential section of Florence, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes ...

. The

Northwest Missouri State Bearcats The Northwest Missouri State Bearcats are the athletic teams for Northwest Missouri State University, located in Maryville, Missouri. The Bearcats play in the NCAA Division II. Northwest is a founding member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate A ...

defeated the

Grand Valley State Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale Charter Township, Michigan, Allendale, Michigan. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on approximately ...

, 30–23, to win their third Division II national title. The

Harlon Hill Trophy The Harlon Hill Trophy is an award in American college football given to the individual selected as the most valuable player in NCAA Division II. The award is named for former University of North Alabama and National Football League player Harlo ...

was awarded to

Joique Bell Joique Dewayne Bell Jr. (born August 4, 1986) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Wayne State. Bell was signed by the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He has also been a member of the Phila ...

, running back from Wayne State.

Conference and program changes

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

completed their transition to Division II and became eligible for the postseason.

Conference standings

Super Region 1

Super Region 2

Super Region 3

Super Region 4

Conference summaries

Postseason

The 2009

NCAA Division II National Football Championship The NCAA Division II Football Championship is an American college football tournament played annually to determine a champion at the NCAA Division II level. It was first held in 1973, as a single-elimination tournament with eight teams. The tourna ...

playoffs involved 24 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football. The tournament began on November 14, 2009 and will conclude on December 13, 2009 with the 2009 NCAA Division II National Football Championship game at Braly Municipal Stadium near the campus of the

Participants

Bids by conference

Playoff format

The first-round games were conducted on the campus of one of the competing institutions as determined by the NCAA Division II Football Committee. Two teams in each super regional earned first-round byes. The first-round winners advanced to face a bye team in their super regional. Second-round winners met in the quarterfinals and quarterfinal winners advanced to play in the semifinals. First-round, second-round, quarterfinal and semifinal games were played on the campus of one of the competing institutions as determined by the NCAA Division II Football Committee. The home team at the championship was determined by the Division II Football Committee and the Shoals National Championship Committee.

National television coverage

The semifinal games were broadcast on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

ESPN360 ESPN3 (formerly ESPN360 and ESPN3.com) is an online streaming service owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (w ...

, and

CBS College Sports CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

on December 5. The championship game was played at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama and broadcast live on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

on December 12.

Tournament Notes

Final standings

Bracket and standings

Super Regional 1

Super Regional 4

Super Regional 3

Super Regional 2

Semifinals and championship

Individual game results

Round 1

=Saginaw Valley vs. Nebraska–Kearney

=Hillsdale vs. Minn. St. Mankato

=Arkansas Tech vs. UNC-Pembroke

=West Alabama vs. Albany State

=Edinboro vs. East Stroudsburg

=Fayetteville State vs. California (PA)

=Tarleton State vs. Texas A&M - Kingsville

=Abilene Christian vs. Midwestern State

Round 2

=Nebraska–Kearney vs. Minnesota Duluth

=Hillsdale vs. Grand Valley State

=Arkansas Tech vs. North Alabama

=West Alabama vs. Carson-Newman

=Edinboro vs. West Liberty

= An NCAA Division II record for combined points (147) and yards (1,394) was set during the game. Edinboro quarterback

Trevor Harris Trevor Harris (born May 31, 1986) is an the United States, American professional Canadian football quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free ...

set the Division II record for passing, completing 50 of 76 passes for 630 yards and 5 touchdowns.